Date: Tue Dec 9 17:14:29 2014
How Yemen's Houthis control Sanaa and alarm the West
By Yara Bayoumy and Mohammed Ghobari
SANAA Tue Dec 9, 2014 11:25am EST
(Reuters) - It was Waddah al-Hitari's beard that killed him. Militiamen on
the streets of Yemen's capital shot him dead one Friday because he looked
like a terrorist, colleagues of the young doctor said.
Hitari was killed by a member of the Houthis, an armed Shi'ite faction
whose fighters had swept down from the north and stunningly captured Sanaa
from the army about a month earlier.
Their arrival following anti-government protests threatens to further
destabilize Yemen, already wracked by political turmoil since the Arab
Spring revolutions of 2011.
The Houthis are fighting al Qaeda, two commanders have been sanctioned by
the United States, and the group is viewed as Shi'ite Iran's ally in its
proxy war with Saudi Arabia, which has suspended aid to Yemen since the
Houthis arrived.
While the Houthis have stamped their authority on the capital, they are by
no means universally popular and were understandably jumpy when they spotted
Dr Hitari that Friday in October.
A day earlier, a suicide bomber had blown up a Houthi checkpoint in
Sanaa, killing 47 people in an attack claimed by al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP).
"They said he looked like a terrorist. We told them he was a doctor,"
said Mostafa al-Nadish, a colleague of Hitari, referring to the doctor's
beard.
Nadish said the shooter thought Hitari may have been armed. Afterwards,
the Houthis negotiated a blood money deal with Hitari's father.
As judge, jury and executioner, the Houthis have left no doubt they are
the new power players in Yemen, leaving the West and neighboring Gulf
countries, especially Saudi Arabia, with a new problem in an already
turbulent region.
Yemen, like Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, is now at the heart of a battle for
regional influence between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
And despite persistent U.S. drone strikes and millions of dollars poured
into training Yemen's counter terrorism forces, AQAP remains a determined
enemy, as highlighted by their killing last week of American hostage Luke
Somers.
The Houthi takeover has meant AQAP, who regard Shi'ites as heretics, has
attracted new recruits.
Widely seen as a failed state, Yemen remains one of the gravest threats
to stability in the Gulf and beyond, playing host to an al Qaeda militancy
determined to launch spectacular attacks against the West.
POURING OUT ALCOHOL
While some Yemenis admire the Houthis' stance against corruption, the
group's heavy-handed tactics have angered many.
Since taking over on Sept. 21, the Houthis have penetrated key state
institutions.
How they managed to move in so quickly is not clear. One theory was that
some army units were not loyal to President Abd Rabbu' Mansour Hadi.
A senior official in Yemen's defense ministry said: "The units that were on
the front line received verbal orders not to engage in confrontation."
Now, Houthi checkpoints seem to be everywhere in Sanaa.
Young men with AK-47s peer at cars passing through checkpoints where
captured military vehicles carry signs saying: "Death to America, Death to
Israel".
"They have a representative in the finance department who sits on the side
and looks over all checks before they are processed," the defense official
said. If he's not convinced, he confiscates the check and throws it into a
plastic bag.
"They have also started to appoint Houthi deputies as the heads of important
departments in the defense ministry," he said.
Jane Marriott, Britain's ambassador to Yemen, said the U.K. was also
"picking up reports of Houthis running illegal detention facilities and
setting up their own court system".
A senior U.S. official said the Houthis' expansion to the south was a major
concern but there were also signs the group was starting to be incorporated
into the country's political process.
Sanaa residents however dislike Houthi security measures.
"It's just a humiliation," said a man called al-Qudsi, referring to the
rigors of passing through Houthi checkpoints on the way to work.
Even diplomats are not spared. At the airport, the Houthis have forced some
to empty bottles of alcohol considered to be forbidden under Islam.
The German embassy complained to the Yemeni foreign ministry that its
diplomats had faced demands for up to $250 to pass through the airport VIP
hall, while the Chinese embassy said customs officials tried to search the
ambassador's personal belongings, according to documents seen by Reuters.
RELATIONSHIP WITH IRAN
The Houthis deny they are copying the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, the
most powerful force in Lebanon.
But similarities in tactics, such as blocking the airport road and setting
up protest camps in the capital, have prompted accusations that the Houthis
get support from Iran.
Salah al-Sammad, a Houthi who advises the president, says the group only
assumed control to root out corruption, and will leave once the government
can provide security in Sanaa.
That assertion is greeted with some scepticism, and a senior security
official told Reuters that Iran sent weapons and money to the Houthis, whose
leaders had traveled to Iran and Lebanon.
Sammad denied receiving Iranian support.
But a large bomb at the Iranian ambassador's residence last week, claimed by
AQAP, appeared also to be a message that the Houthis have outstayed their
welcome.
It is hard to see how Yemen can avoid sectarian conflict between the Houthis
and al Qaeda. The bomb at the Iranian envoy's house may just be the
beginning.
(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Additional reporting by
<http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=matt.spetalnick
&> Matt Spetalnick; Editing by
<http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=giles.elgood&>
Giles Elgood)
Shi'ite Houthi rebels man a checkpoint at the southern entrance to the city
of Sanaa November 15, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
Shi'ite Houthi rebels man a checkpoint at the southern entrance to the city
of Sanaa November 15, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
(image/jpeg attachment: image002.jpg)